Experience Romania

A place of wonder on Earth…

…to be more precise, a place of wonder somewhere in Central Europe

Romania

Romania’s area is 238,391 km²

That is, a bit more than half of Finland 9th largest territory in EU (out of 27)

Romania

Finland

Area

Romania’s population is 22.6 mil

That would be 5 times more than Finland’s 7th largest population in the EU

Romania

Finland

Population

The capital is Bucharest

Iasi

Bucuresti

Helsinki

Area

Iasi

Bucuresti

Helsinki

Population

And our home-city is Iasi

Government and politics

Semi-presidential democratic republic Executive: President + Prime Minister 1 President: 5 years Parliament = the Senate + the

Chamber of Deputies Let’s not go into other details and try

to keep a happy atmosphere for now

When you come to Romania,

You will first arrive in the capital, Bucharest.

Although it has its own beauties, Bucharest is not exactly the cleanest city in Romania. Nor the least stressful…

It’s the capital, after all Please don’t judge us by this first

impression

In Bucharest, you will see the Palace of the Parliament,

The world’s 3rd largest building

Luckily, it fit on this slide, though…

In Bucharest, you will see the Palace of the Parliament,

The world’s 3rd largest building

Luckily, it fit on this slide, though……twice!

the Romanian Village Museum,

Over 100.000m2

272 authentic peasant farms and houses from all over Romania

The Triumphal Arch,

It honors our independence, gained in 1878

The release version built in 1935

And many cool pubs and stuff,

No photos, sorry :D

And then you’ll be on your way

Don’t mind some bumpy roads. They were designed this way for your enjoyment

You will visit Sibiu, the “cultural capital of Europe”

We didn’t just make it up…

We read it on Wikipedia:

“Sibiu was designated European Capital of Culture for the year 2007 together with Luxembourg“

And maybe the jolly cemetery of Sapanta

…famous for its colourful tombstones with native paintings, describing, in an original and poetic manner, the persons that are buried there, as well as scenes from their lives… (Wikipedia)

And meet some locals on the way,

And then the mountains…

If you like mountains, you won’t get enough of our Carpathians!

Light tents, good shoes and full-day hiking is recommended. It’s all worth it!

Here are some photos, btw

Here are some photos, btw

Here are some photos, btw

Here are some photos, btw

Here are some photos, btw

Ok, back to our journey…

Slowly, you’ll head to Moldavia

That is, the Romanian region Moldavia, not the country Moldavia ;)

…And there you’ll visit the monasteries

The painted churches of northern Moldavia and the Maramureş wooden churches in Northern Transylvania have been listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.

We’ve seen them, they were worth it!

Here are some of them:

Here are some of them:

Here are some of them:

Here are some of them:

And then you’ll come visit us in Iaşi!

Iaşi is the second-largest Romanian city and the economic, cultural and academic centre of Moldavia

There are around 60000 students anually in Iaşi, so expect a good share of fun when you come.

Tired after all the fun? Enjoy the nice smell of linden tree in a walk on the beautiful Copou, or go relax in the Botanical garden.

You’ll stay with my family,

Any other regular Romanian family works as well

We are all welcoming people

And you’ll fest on all those wonderful Romanian dishes!

And you’ll fest on all those wonderful Romanian dishes!

Yes, all of them! Romanians eat a lot; guests of

Romanians usually eat double ;) You will be full, but you will still

find some space for desert: Fresh watermelon (the real thing) Home-baked pie

In the evening, we’ll go out

We’ll meet with friends, go to a terrace, have a beer, chat about football, IT, life…

Then we can do anything you want that we can’t really afford around here…

Just to give an example: 1 beer out = 1 Euro!

The next day, I’ll show you around the city…

And then we’re off to the seaside

Sun, beaches, beautiful girls, concerts, clubs, pizza, kebab…

Also, cool challenges, like a few thieves, crappy accommodation and trash every now and there. It’s still the Balkans, remember? ;)

Anyway, a lot of fun and many cool people if you know where to look.

Sun, beaches, beautiful girls, concerts, clubs, pizza, kebab…

Also, cool challenges, like a few thieves, crappy accommodation and trash every now and there. It’s still the Balkans, remember? ;)

Anyway, a lot of fun and many cool people if you know where to look.

…By the way, we’ll use the train for all these trips…

And if you behave, we’ll let you “ride with the godfather” ;)

And then, with a sad smile on your face, you’ll pack your bags…

And go back to Bucharest, to catch your plane.

Going to the airport, you’ll get ripped off by a taxi driver. But you won’t even notice it, because you’ll pay the price of a regular taxi in Helsinki

And you’ll leave…

And from the plane, you’ll have one more look at this place of wonder on Earth, and smile.

Thank you for your attention!

Links

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania

Romania – Simply Surprising http://www.romaniatravel.com/

New project, pretty cool: http://www.goodandbad.eu/

If you still want more: www.google.com

Final NoteThis is just one perspective of Romania, and certainly a very subjective one. We may have missed

many things worth mentioning, we may have overemphasized others. We take full responsibility, and hope that, in the end, we painted a small realistic part of what Romania represents to us and maybe to other Romanians.

Questions?